Friday 15 March 2013 13.17 EDT
First published on Friday 15 March 2013 13.17 EDT

This eclectic collection of essays, edited by an American scholar whose research has focused on the relations between literature and science, seeks to show that secularism is not a negative condition "but an affirmation of the world we're living in now". Levine asked his contributors to explore the idea of "secular enchantment", a phrase that plays on sociologist Max Weber's assertion that modernity was characterised by Entzauberung, or disenchantment. Highlights include Frans BM de Waal's remarkable essay on evidence for altruistic behaviour in primates. De Waal argues that human morality can no longer be seen as proof of the existence of God: "The seeds for a moral order seem far older than our species." Historian Robert J Richards finds "a universal moral grammar" in Darwin, and Rebecca Stott's moving piece explores how poetry can be (in Salman Rushdie's words) "a secular definition of transcendence". While avoiding triumphalism, these essays make a powerful case for a secularism that is both intellectually rigorous and heartfelt.